The purpose of your final ERC report is to provide … Web viewIn the final year, some of these requirements have modifications that are summarized in Table 1 below. The ERCWeb data

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATIONDIRECTORATE FOR ENGINEERING

ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTERS PROGRAM

FY 2013GUIDELINES FOR

PREPARINGFINAL REPORTS

for theENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTERS

May 2013

Engineering Education & Centers Division4201Wilson Boulevard, Suite 585

Arlington, VA 22230Phone: (703) 292-8380

Facsimile: (703) 292-9051/9052

Prepared in conjunction with

ICF INTERNATIONAL • 530 GAITHER ROAD • ROCKVILLE, MD 20850

Contents

1. Introduction..................................................................................................................32. General Reporting Requirements.................................................................................33. No-Cost Extension.......................................................................................................54. Final Report Guidelines................................................................................................5

4.1.Section 1: Systems Vision, Value Added and Broader Impacts...............................74.2.Section 2: Intellectual Merit and Research Impact...................................................74.3.Section 3: University and Pre-college Education Impact.........................................84.4.Section 4: Industrial /Practitioner Impact and Technology Transfer......................114.5.Section 5: Infrastructure.........................................................................................144.6.Section 6: Beyond Graduation................................................................................274.7.Section 7: Appendices............................................................................................27

5. Celebration and Summative Review Site Visit..........................................................286. Report Submission.....................................................................................................307. Continuing Contact.....................................................................................................318. Appendix I: Instructions for notifying Research.gov of Final Report Submission....32

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1. Introduction

The last two years of the ERC’s life span are transition years. The Center’s NSF funding is phasing down and the Center is beginning to execute post-graduation plans for self-sufficiency or termination. Year 10 also brings a time to reflect on and celebrate the accomplishments of the Center over the last decade and to record the impact the Center has had on knowledge, industry, and society. After a decade of NSF support of approximately $40 million, NSF and the ERC Program capture the significant accomplishments of the Center through the Final Report. This is an important opportunity to summarize the most significant impacts and outcomes of a Center in terms of advancing knowledge, education, technology and industrial competitiveness, and the engineering workforce and its diversity. Each Center has made unique and important contributions over its 10-year life span and should carefully consider how to best showcase its key accomplishments and impacts.

In addition, a final summative review and celebration site visit may be held to provide a summative assessment of the impacts of the ERC, to provide final feedback on self-sufficiency plans from the NSF site team, and to celebrate the Center’s impacts and achievements. NSF’s budget issues are the deciding factor in determining whether or not to hold this review/celebration.

2. General Reporting Requirements

During the first nine years of a Center’s life, the ERC submits its Annual Report five weeks before its annual site visit. In addition, a Center submits its data to the ERCWeb database approximately two months before its annual site visit.

In the final year, some of these requirements have modifications that are summarized in Table 1 below. The ERCWeb data still must be collected and submitted as if Year 10 were any other year. In addition, the Center must make one additional final data submission to cover the period from the end of the Year 10 Reporting Year to the end of the cooperative agreement (either with or without an extension period). The extension period requirements are described in Section 3 of this document.

The “Annual Report” for Year 10 will be the preliminary Final Report and will be prepared and submitted on the same schedule as in any other year so that it is ready for review at the time of the summative review/celebration site visit (if one is held). See additional discussion in the Report Submission section below.

The preliminary Final Report will be similar in structure to the Annual Report, with modifications as specified later in this document. The preliminary Final Report will be a complete report as specified below, but is “preliminary” in the sense of the data it contains. The preliminary Final Report will contain data through the end of the 10 th

Reporting Year; the full Final Report will contain updated tables and charts with data through the end of the cooperative agreement along with any updated text due to final achievements or outcomes. If there is no extension to the cooperative agreement, the Final Report is submitted to the ERC Program staff in lieu of the Annual Report within 90 days of the end of the cooperative agreement. If there is an extension to the agreement,

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the 10th year Annual Report requirement is met by submitting the preliminary version of the Final Report as the 10th year Annual Report. Then the full Final Report is due to the ERC Program staff within 90 days of the end of the extension period.

Data and Report Submission Requirements:

Submission Without Extension With No-Cost Extension10th Year ERCWeb Data • Covers the 10th Year

Reporting Year• Due at the usual time (based on prior year submissions)

• Covers the 10th Year Reporting Year• Due at the usual time (based on prior year submissions)

Final ERCWeb Data • Covers the period from the end of the 10th Year Reporting Year to the end of the 10th Year Award Year.• Due within 90 days of the end of the 10th Year Award Year

• Covers the period from the end of the 10th Year Reporting Year to the end of the Extension Period• Due within 90 days of the end of the Extension Period

Year 10 “Annual Report” submission

• Not needed • Due at least 90 days prior to the end of the 10th Year Award Year—Submit preliminary Final Report• Note: Do not use Research.gov until receiving official no-cost extension approval

Final Report • Due within 90 days after the end of the 10th Year Award Year

• Due within 90 days after the end of the Extension Period but may be submitted earlier

Year 10 Cost-Sharing Certification

• Not needed • Due at least 90 days prior to the end of the 10th Year Award Year

Final Cost-Sharing Certification

• Due within 90 days after the end of the 10th Year Award Year

• Due within 90 days after the end of the Extension Period

Note: the annual reports and Final Report are no longer submitted to FastLane. NSF now instructs its grantees to use Research.gov to submit annual and final reports. However, as approved by the NSF Policy Office, the ERCs do not use Research.gov to submit the contents of the Final Report, but they do use Research.gov to indicate that the report has been submitted. The Final Report (and preliminary Final Report, if applicable) are sent in hard copy and in digital form, on CD, directly to ERC program staff at NSF. ERC program staff also uploads the information into the internal NSF eJacket system. The submission steps to Research.gov are described in detail in Appendix I.

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In addition, NSF added an additional final reporting requirement to any award made or funded (so this is applicable to Class of 2003 and later graduating ERCs) after January 2010. This requirement is to submit a Project Outcomes Report for the General Public on Research.gov. The Project Outcomes Report is prepared by the ERC and submitted on Research.gov. NSF input/approval is not required. Seehttp://www.research.gov/common/attachment/Desktop/Project%20Outcomes%20Report%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf for more details.

3. No-Cost Extension

If desired, a graduating Center may request up to a six-month no-cost extension. The no- cost extension might be necessary to allow extra time to close out accounts, pay final invoices, spend out residual money, or finish a supplemental award task that was given near the end of the 10-year term. The no-cost extension must be requested no later than 90 days prior to the end of the 10 th Year. It must be requested through FastLane and any residual NSF funding carried forward into the extension period must be reported in the preliminary Final Report, and explained. The no-cost extension is subject to approval by the NSF Program Director, the Leader of the ERC Program, and the NSF Grants Officer. Approval will be in the form of an Amendment to the Cooperative Agreement. Except in very unusual circumstances, no additional extension will be granted beyond six months.

If a no-cost extension is granted, the Center will be allowed to expend the remaining NSF funds, as approved, up until the new expiration date. Any funding not approved for use in the extension period will be returned to the Government and any of the funds approved for expenditure but not obligated by that time will be returned to the Government.

The Final Report and the Final Data Submission to ERCWeb are due no later than 90 days after the end of the six-month extension period. Final Reports will not be approved until the final ERCWeb data are submitted. NSF will not allow the PI or Co-PI to receive any additional NSF funding until the Final Report has been submitted and approved by the NSF Program Director.

After the Center receives the written approval of the no-cost extension by the NSF Grants Officer, the Center must submit a 10th Year Annual Report to the ERC program staff, who will upload it into eJacket system, and an annual cost-sharing certification into FastLane prior to the end of the final Award Year. (This is in addition to the Final Report and the final cost-sharing certification that are due at the end of the no-cost extension period.) The Center should submit the preliminary version of the Final Report as its “Annual Report” to meet the reporting requirements for the Year 10 Award Year. The approval of a no-cost extension signals Research.gov to create a field in which to enter the 10th year Annual Report information. Centers should therefore wait until receiving approval of the no-cost extension before entering that information into Research.gov.

An ERC may apply for a supplemental opportunity while the award is still active, even if the award activities would be carried out after the original end date. In that case, the graduating ERC must apply for a no-cost extension to cover the period of the supplemental award. The ERC may not apply for additional supplements during that no-cost extension period without explicit authorization from NSF.

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http://www.research.gov/common/attachment/Desktop/Project%20Outcomes%20Report%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf


4. Final Report Guidelines

The goal of the Final Report is to give an integrated overview, supported by specific examples, of the impact, outcomes and accomplishments of the Center over the decade of NSF funding. The Center should present achievements that reflect advances in fundamental engineering knowledge, enabling technology, engineered systems, education of a broadly diverse workforce, pre-college education, and technology advances in partnership with industry or through translational research carried out by non-member firms when member firms fail to license ERC-generated IP. The Final Report should highlight the impact of having an integrated, cross-disciplinary, multi-university research team on achieving results and important outcomes.

The Center will prepare a preliminary Final Report based on the structure and content described below. This will be a complete document; however, as with an Annual Report, it will not cover the entire period of the final Award Year-- it will only cover to the end of the 10th Reporting Year. Thus the preliminary Final Report shall be prepared with the data and information available from the inception of the Center to the end of the 10th

Reporting Year. The full Final Report will essentially be the same document as the preliminary report but with the summary data tables and charts and research highlights updated based on data and achievements occurring between the end of the Reporting Year and the end of the cooperative agreement or no-cost extension.

The structure of the Final Report is very similar to the structure of Volume I of the Annual Report, however, the report should be written from the perspective of summarizing and highlighting the major accomplishments, impacts, and outcomes of the Center over the 10 years of NSF funding. Emphasis should be placed on the outcomes and impacts of the Center and the consequences or significances of the impacts. There is no requirement to produce Volume II, the detailed project reports, in Year 10. However, the Center may wish to produce a document with final project reports to provide closure for the projects, but this is not required. If such a document is produced, the Center should submit it to the ERC program staff at the same time as it submits the final version of the Final Report.

The Final Report should have the following structure. Cover Page Table of ContentsParticipants Tables (Use the format from the prior annual reports)Section 1: Systems Vision, Value Added and Broader ImpactsSection 2: Intellectual Merit and Research Impacts Section 3: University and Pre-college Education Impacts Section 4: Industrial /Practitioner Impact and Technology TransferSection 5: InfrastructureSection 6: Beyond GraduationSection 7: Appendices

1. Lessons Learned2. Bibliography of Publications (over lifetime of center)

3. Year 10 Highlights (nuggets)4. Final Year 10 ERCWeb Tables

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The ERC’s own cover page should be the outermost cover page of the Final Report. It should include the title of the center, followed by “an Engineering Research Center” (if that is not in the title). Next it should list the lead and any core partner institutions involved and the names of the Director and Deputy Director. It should also show the cooperative agreement number, the words “Final Report,” and the date of submission.

As with the Annual Report, there are several charts and tables required in the Final Report. The ERCWeb database contractor will create many of them based on the 10 years of data that the Center has reported. It is important to note that the Center is responsible for discussing the information presented in these tables and charts within the narrative of the report, including trends and conclusions, even though some of the tables and charts will be produced by the ERCWeb database contractor.

4.1. Section 1: Systems Vision, Value Added and Broader Impacts

This section should begin with an “executive summary” level discussion summarizing the vision and the strategic plan of the Center and the historical evolution of the Center’s vision over the 10 years of NSF support. It should discuss the focus, core objectives, and key principles of the Center, how they evolved, and where they stand now.

The information in this section should present a snapshot of the Center in its 10 th year in conjunction with a brief history of how it got there and impacts achieved along the way. There should be a timeline with key milestones over the life of the Center in research, education and outreach, industrial collaboration and technology transfer. It should contain a discussion of how each of the following features of the ERC evolved over time and their most significant impacts:

Current research thrusts and test beds of the Center; Current university and pre-college education programs; Current industry membership and involvement, and key technology

transfer impacts.Each discussion should be brief and high-level but accurately summarize the current features of the Center along with the key impacts achieved over time.

In addition, there should be a discussion of the broader impacts of the Center on the academic community at large, and on the lead and partner institutions in particular. This would include a discussion and examples of any changes(s) in university culture that could be attributed to, at least in part, the presence of the ERC such as any increase in cross-disciplinary courses or majors, new strategic cross-disciplinary initiatives, culture changes that might include increased support for cross-disciplinary partnerships, partnerships with industry, and a new emphasis on the university role in innovation. In addition, examples of the impact of the ERC on increasing diversity of faculty and students at both lead and partner institutions should be given and discussed.

4.2. Section 2: Intellectual Merit and Research Impact

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This section should contain a discussion of the intellectual merit of the work done at the Center with examples of how the Center has impacted the state of the art in its field and/or spawned a whole new field(s). There should be examples of unique approaches, scientific breakthroughs, technology innovations, etc. The section should contain a three-plane strategic plan chart with a few key examples of how system requirements and barriers flowed down to generate research and technology projects. It should also show how the resulting knowledge has flowed up, feeding advances in enabling and engineered systems technology and leading to demonstrated engineered systems. The examples should show how research elements have combined in the enabling technology or systems technology integration planes and were realized through proof-of-concept test beds and new technology. The examples also should show how the cross-disciplinary nature of the Center has enabled key advances and discoveries. This section also should note any advances in fields outside the Center’s primary focus that were enabled by Center research and technology platforms.

Finally, this section should discuss and give examples of the validation of the research results through recognition in the form of patents, licenses, best or most frequently sited papers, awards, etc. The patent and license summary table, shown below, listing the patents and licenses over the lifespan of the Center, must be included.

IP License Number or Name

IP License Title or Name

IP Category:FP, PP, C, T

Brief Description of Technology

Owner of IP

Year Awarded

FP= full patent; PP = provisional patent; C= copyright; T= trademarkERC Intellectual Property Table, to be created by the Center

4.3. Section 3: University and Pre-college Education Impact

This section should discuss the achievements and impacts of the university and pre-college education programs across the ERC’s institutions as applicable. Using a snapshot of the tenth year, a summary table of the implementation of education programs, using the format shown in the Education Activities Table below, should be included.

The ERC should highlight its exemplary university education programs and their impacts. Descriptions of new courses and course modules (of all types, e.g., undergraduate, graduate, and industry/practitioner) and any new degree programs resulting from the ERC’s research that have been implemented should be summarized with a chart or table.

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REU RET Young Scholar Pre-College General Community

Lead InstitutionPartner University 1Partner University 2Partner University 3

Education Activities Table, to be created by the Center

= In Place in Years 1-3 =In Place in Years 4-6, = In Place in Years 7-10

The ERC’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) activities should be discussed including any LSAMP and AGEP partnerships (required for the Class of 2006 and encouraged for other classes). Examples of impacts on participating students should be presented. A chart of institutions providing REU students over the 10-year period, prepared by the ERCWeb database contractor, should also be presented.

FR 3.1Produced by ERCWeb database contractor

9 May 2013

The Center should discuss the activities and impacts of the Student Leadership Council (SLC) on the operations of the Center and on the students. This section should be written by the SLC leadership.

The Center should highlight the outstanding achievements of a selected few graduates to show how their cross-disciplinary/industrial practice ERC experience led to important impacts in academe and/or industry.

The Center should provide a summary of the assessment techniques used to determine the effectiveness and impacts of the university education programs and the findings

The ERC will summarize the activities and impacts of the pre-college efforts. These would include student involvement in ERC outreach activities, the ERC’s Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program and its impact on teachers and the classroom as well as on the students involved in those classrooms. Pre-college assessment findings should be presented.

The Center should discuss the achievements of any ERC-generated general public outreach programs, as applicable (they are not required).

Finally, each Center must insert the figure prepared by the ERCWeb database contractor that shows the number of students (Ph.D., MS, undergraduates) participating in the ERC over the life of the ERC, the chart that shows the total number who graduated in each category, and the pie chart that shows graduates’ distribution across employment sectors following graduation.

FR 3.2Prepared by ERCWeb database contractor

10 May 2013



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4.4. Section 4: Industrial /Practitioner Impact and Technology Transfer

This section should highlight the achievements of successful ERC partnerships with industry and practitioners, particularly those resulting in technology transfer. Some examples include:

achievements resulting from partnerships that facilitated and supported further development of key technologies;

technology transfer via student and/or practitioner exchanges; feedback from industry/practitioner partners about the impact of the ERC on these

partners in terms of technology transferred, graduates hired, and knowledge advancement;

profiles of a successful start-up company based on ERC research and discoveries; translational research partnerships with member firms through sponsored research

projects (if disclosure is not prohibited); translational research projects with small member and/or non-member firms,

including results of any Small Business Collaboration Opportunity (SECO) awards from NSF with a translational research purpose;

SECO awards to SBIR Phase II awardees that partnered with the ERC ; any other examples of impacts on local economic development.

In addition, a summary of the final SWOT analysis from industry, addressing the graduation transition point, must be included.

The following charts and tables must also be included in this section. The narrative must include a discussion of any trends observed in the charts and tables, in particular any trends in membership numbers or types of memberships over the life of the Center.

A stacked bar chart depicting the number of members, affiliates and contributing firms, respectively over the ten years of the Center’s NSF funding (Produced by the ERCWeb database contractor);


12 May 2013

A stacked bar chart depicting the number of small businesses, medium size businesses and large businesses, respectively, over the ten years of the Center’s NSF funding (Produced by the ERCWeb database contractor);


A summary technology transfer table as shown in the example below (Produced by the Center);

Industrial ApplicationAdopting Company

Technology When (date) Use in Company Impact (e.g., cost savings;productivity gain, etc.)

ERC Technology Transfer Table, to be created by the Center

A summary spin-out company table as shown in the example below (Produced by the Center).

Name of Firm

Contact Information at Firm

Date Established

Name of Principle & Relationship to ERC (e.g. faculty, student,

graduate, if any)

Funding status

(SBIR, 1st

round, positive tax

income, etc.)

Technology Market Impact or Societal

Benefit (in terms of

value added)

Spin-out Firms Table, to be created by the Center

13 May 2013

In addition, the center must develop a chart that depicts the number of members in a particular technology sector, especially as related to the value chain associated with the vision of the center, over the ten years of the center’s NSF funding. This chart could show how the composition of the member firms has evolved through the value chain over the life of the center.

These charts should be inserted in the text where their content is referenced.

4.5. Section 5: Infrastructure

In this section the discussion should include the history of the institutional configuration with maps, examples of exemplar individual achievements of ERC personnel based on their participation in the ERC, the achievements of the Center in developing a diverse team, the multi-disciplinary configuration of the ERC, the cultural impacts at the lead and partner institution resulting from the ERC, and the improvements in lead and partner institution facilities.

In addition, there are several summary tables and charts required for this section. All but one will be created by the ERCWeb database contractor. The text must include a discussion of the information presented in the charts and tables. The Center should also use this section to provide a summary of any major facilities or capabilities that were developed at the lead or any of the core partner universities as a result of the ERC.

The tables and charts to be included in this section are listed below and there should be a discussion of each at the point where the chart/table is presented.

The Year 10 disciplinary wheel (Produced by the ERCWeb database contractor)


14 May 2013

A stack bar chart to show the total numbers of faculty participating in the ERC, by year, by faculty rank, over the life of the ERC (Produced by the ERCWeb database contractor);


A stack bar chart to show the annual total number of administrative staff members, technical staff members (staff to support test beds) over the life of the ERC (Produced by the ERCWeb database contractor);

1. Note: The ERC has the option to generate their own chart of staff participation by type using Full-Time Equivalents (FTE) instead of actual number of people. Some centers may have a large degree of turnover or a large number of part-time staff, which may give a highly distorted picture of staff participation.


15 May 2013

A table summarizing any major professional awards to ERC leaders, faculty and staff and/or significant changes in their career paths resulting from their work with the ERC over the life of the ERC; (Produced by the Center)

Charts that summarize the participation of women, underrepresented racial minorities, Hispanics, and persons with disabilities over the life of the Center (Produced by the ERCWeb database contractor).


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17 May 2013


18 May 2013


Diversity trend charts within each of the following groups over the life of the Center: the leadership team, faculty, and, separately, Ph.D. students, M.S. students, and Undergraduate students. In the text, these trends should be discussed in the context of national engineering demographic averages and with ERC Program-wide averages (Produced by the ERCWeb database contractor).

Samples shown on following page.

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20 May 2013



21 May 2013

Trend chart that shows the participation of U.S. citizens or Permanent Residents versus citizens of another country with temporary U.S. visas for each of these participant classes: leadership team, faculty, and Ph.D., M.S., and undergraduate students. This chart will start at the point where NSF began to require collection of these data. (Produced by the ERCWeb database contractor)


22 May 2013

Overall final budget and expenditure information using three summary bar charts for the life of the Center: one on Direct Sources of Support (without Associated Projects data), one on expenditures using the expenditure categories from the ERCWeb Table 10, and one on expenditures using the functional budget categories from the ERCWeb Table 8 (without Associated Projects data). (Produced by the ERCWeb database contractor).



23 May 2013


A domestic map and a world-wide map to indicate the breadth of participation in the ERC. The domestic map will show the locations of the lead institution, core partner institutions, outreach institutions, LSAMP partners, institutions providing REU students, and institutions providing RET teachers. The database contractor will also produce a global outreach map where the significant collaborators with ERC are shown. (Produced by the ERCWeb database contractor)

Samples shown on following page.

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25 May 2013

4.6. Section 6: Beyond Graduation

This section should discuss the Center plans after NSF support ceases: shutting down or self-sufficiency. If the ERC chooses self-sufficiency, the Center should provide a brief summary of the business plan to include any changes in the Center configuration or strategic direction, new potential funding sources and/or partnerships, projected expenditures by type (e.g. research, REU, education, outreach, etc.) and funds already in place or pledged to support the next five years of effort by type (e.g., university, industry, or government).

4.7. Section 7: Appendices

The first appendix should be a discussion of Lessons Learned by the Center leadership team in managing an ERC. This is an opportunity for the Center leadership team to offer advice to the next generation of Centers as well as to NSF for program improvements.

The second appendix should be the Center’s bibliography of publications over the 10 years of NSF funding. The bibliography should be organized by type of publication (e.g. journal, book, conference proceedings, book chapter, etc.; all must be peer reviewed) with publications from core and sponsored projects listed separately from publications resulting from associated projects.

The third appendix should be the set of the 10th year highlights (previously known as “nuggets”). These should be written in the same format as required in the Annual Reports in the following areas: Research/Technology Advancements, Education, Technology Transfer (including successful spinoff/start-up companies), and Infrastructure (including large databases that function as a national resource, large testbeds and new facilities). The highlights reported should cover achievements made since the end of the last reporting period. Highlights used in a previous report may not be repeated unless they provide background for major recent advances or impacts that have taken place since the highlight was first reported. There is no explicit requirement for, or limit on, the number of highlights but they should have the following characteristics: 1) be accomplishments of major significance; and 2) have passed a significant milestone or have come to fruition during the reporting year—and not be simply a report of incremental advancement of a “work in progress.”

The fourth appendix should be the final set of annual ERCWeb tables based on the final data submission. They should be presented in the following sections within the appendix:

• Center ImpactTable 1, Table 1a

• Research PlanTable 2, Table 2a

• EducationTable 3a, Table 3b

• Industrial RelationsTable 4, Table 5, Figure 5a

• InfrastructureTable 6, Table 7, Table 8, Figure 8a, Table 9, Table 10, Table 11

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5. Celebration and Summative Review Site Visit

In conjunction with the NSF Program Director, and pending the availability of travel funds for the NSF team, the Center Director will plan a final summative site visit to occur during the last year of the Award. The two-day site visit will focus on highlighting the impact, outcomes and achievements of the Center over the last decade in the context of the evolution of the Center’s vision and strategic plan. The ERC’s fundamental advances that have shaped the field or created a new field, including enabling technology and engineered systems that have had transforming impacts on industry; and, in some cases, spawned a range of start-up firms and/or whole new industries, should be presented. The Center should provide summary information on the partnership with industry, how it functioned, and how it impacted academe and industry. The Center should also provide summary information on the ERC’s university and pre-college programs and highlight impacts on the diversity of the student and faculty teams.

NSF will bring a site visit team selected from the reviewers who have served on the span of reviews from start-up to the previous year. The first day is devoted to the ERC’s achievements and impact and an evening celebration dinner. The celebration dinner should include the ERC’s faculty, staff and students, including administrator(s) from the partner institutions, industry/practitioner members and the site visit team. Family members are welcome as well. During the second day, the site visit team will complete its report.

Summative Review Site Visit AgendaThe exact agenda of the summative review and celebration site visit is left up to the discretion of the Center Director in consultation with the NSF Program Director. However, it should basically consist of overview summary presentations in each of the core areas of the Center that focus on outcomes and impact of the Center, a poster session, a meeting with the SLC and a final SLC SWOT, a final meeting with the IAB and the IAB SWOT; a presentation about plans for the future, advice to NSF, and a celebratory dinner.

The summary presentations should include the following. Institutional Impacts: Remarks from an Administrator(s) associated with the lead

and/or partner institutions that describe the impact of the ERC on their respective institution(s) over the 10-year history. This should include impacts on the diversity of faculty and students, impacts on cross-disciplinary research and courses, and any changes in university culture that could be attributed to participation in the ERC.

Overview of ERC Impacts: Overview by the Center Director of the 10-year history and evolution of the strategic plan and vision of Center with an integrated view of the significant achievements of the Center during the past decade. It should include a discussion of the outcomes and impacts of the research thrust areas, the education and outreach programs, and the industry collaboration program. If planning to continue after graduation, a strategic view of the research focus on the ERC in the future should be included.

27 May 2013

Research Accomplishments: An integrative summary of the growth, development and accomplishments in the research of the Center and how the Center has impacted the state of the art in its field or spawned a whole new field, examples of fundamental breakthroughs, significant enabling technology developed by the ERC team through its research thrusts and test-bed research, and examples of major systems advances achieved within the ERC or enabled by the ERC and realized in industry. It should be clear how the barriers and system requirements flowed down the 3-plane ERC strategic plan and how the knowledge flowed up the chart to feed enabling and system test beds. Plans for the future should be included.

Education: An integrative summary of the growth, development and accomplishments in the university and pre-college education activities of the Center, from “pre-K to grey.” Activities and impacts should be summarized. Numbers of students graduated and examples of their employment after graduation should be included. The educational impact on participating schools should be presented. Plans for the future should be included.

Industry/practitioner Collaborations and Technology Transfer: An integrative summary of the growth, development and accomplishments in the industrial collaboration, technology transfer efforts of the Center including the current status of the partnership with industry/practitioners, major technology advances in use, plans for the future, and a description of any start-up companies that have formed as a result of Center work and patents that have been granted and licenses issued.

Infrastructure: A summary in the infrastructure areas will include a discussion of the human resources that have been developed as part of the Center including faculty who have been promoted or achieved significant recognition from their work with the Center as well achievements in cross-disciplinary collaboration; leadership and management systems used; cultural impact of the ERC on the lead and partner institutions, new facilities or experimental/test bed capabilities developed by the lead and partner institutions.

Diversity: Information on the diversity of faculty and students, including under-represented minorities and women, U.S. citizens/permanent residents and foreign citizens should be presented.

Lessons Learned: Comments about lessons learned during the life of the Center or significant management challenges or insights developed in the context of leading a large, multi-disciplinary research effort.

Self-Sufficiency: The business plan of the ERC after graduation, if it plans to continue as a Center. Given the plans for the future described above, information on Center leadership, administration, budget for staffing, and other costs should be provided along with information on sources of support, including university resources committed, industry support, etc.

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6. Report Submission

The timing of the submission of the Final Report depends on whether or not the Center plans to request a no-cost extension and whether or not there will be a summative site visit review.

Summative Review and Celebration Visit and a No-cost Extension: The Center will prepare a preliminary Final Report as described above and submit it to NSF ERC Program Staff five weeks prior to the summative visit date. The Center shall contact members of the site team to make arrangements for delivering a paper or electronic version to them. The Center will mail five paper copies and five electronic versions to Mr. Marshall Horner at NSF at the address below and one electronic version to Mr. Courtland Lewis (addresses below). Within 90 days of the end of the original award year, and after receiving approval for the no-cost extension, the Center shall report the submission of the 10th Year Annual Report in Research.gov as described in Appendix I of this document. Research.gov will list both the ANNUAL report and the FINAL report. Centers should submit the 10th Year Report under ANNUAL report. Within 90 days of the end of the no-cost extension period, the Center shall submit five paper copies and five electronic versions of the full Final Report to Mr. Marshall Horner and one electronic version to Mr. Courtland Lewis. Also within 90 days of the end of the no-cost extension period, the Center shall report the submission of the Final Report in Research.gov as described in Appendix I to this document and submit the Project Outcomes Report to Research.gov. (http://www.research.gov/common/attachment/Desktop/Project%20Outcomes%20Report%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf )

No Summative Review and Celebration Visit but With a No-cost Extension: The Center will prepare a preliminary Final Report as described above and submit it to NSF at approximately the same time as its Annual Report would have been delivered in previous years. The Center shall mail five paper copies and five electronic versions to Mr. Marshall Horner and one electronic version to Mr. Courtland Lewis (addresses below). Within 90 days of the end of the original award year, and after receiving approval for the no-cost extension, the Center shall report the submission of the 10 th Year Annual Report in Research.gov as described in Appendix I of this document. Research.gov will list both the ANNUAL report and the FINAL report. Centers should submit the 10 th Year Report under ANNUAL report. Within 90 days of the end of the no-cost extension period, the Center shall submit five paper copies and five electronic versions of the full Final Report to Mr. Marshall Horner and one electronic version to Mr. Courtland Lewis. Also within 90 days of the end of the no-cost extension period, the Center shall report the submission of the Final Report in Research.gov as described in Appendix I to this document and submit the Project Outcomes Report to Research.gov. (http://www.research.gov/common/attachment/Desktop/Project%20Outcomes%20Report%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf )

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Summative Review and Celebration Visit but Without a No-cost Extension: The Center will prepare a preliminary Final Report as described above and submit it to NSF five weeks prior to the summative visit date. The Center shall contact members of the site team to make arrangements for delivering a paper or electronic version to them. The Center shall mail five paper copies and five electronic versions to Mr. Marshall Horner and one electronic version to Mr. Courtland Lewis (addresses below). Within 90 days after the end of the award year, the Center shall submit five paper copies and five electronic versions of the full Final Report to Mr. Marshall Horner and one electronic version to Mr. Courtland Lewis. Also within 90 days of the end of the award year, the Center shall report the submission of the Final Report in Research.gov as described in Appendix I to this document and submit the Project Outcomes Report to Research.gov. (http://www.research.gov/common/attachment/Desktop/Project%20Outcomes%20Report%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf )

No Summative Review and Celebration Visit But Without a No-cost Extension: Within 90 days after the end of the award year, the Center shall submit five paper copies and five electronic versions of the full Final Report to Mr. Marshall Horner and one electronic version to Mr. Courtland Lewis. Also within 90 days of the end of the award year, the Center shall report the submission of the Final Report in Research.gov as described in Appendix I to this document and submit the Project Outcomes Report to Research.gov. (http://www.research.gov/common/attachment/Desktop/Project%20Outcomes%20Report%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf )

In all cases, the name of the Center and “Preliminary Final Report” or “Final Report” and the year of the report should be placed on all CD labels and mailed to the following addresses.

Mr. Marshall Horner, ERC Program SpecialistEngineering Research Centers ProgramDivision of Engineering Education and Centers, Suite 585National Science Foundation4201 Wilson Blvd.Arlington, VA 22230Phone: 703-292-2308Fax: 703-292-9051Email: [email protected]

Mr. Courtland Lewis310 Meadowview LaneUnicoi, TN 37692

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mailto:[email protected]





7. Continuing Contact

In the past, the leadership teams of the graduating ERCs have agreed to continue to provide minimal information to the ERC program post-graduation. This would include information on shifts in vision and research program composition, sources of support, etc.

8. Appendix I: Instructions for notifying Research.gov of Final Report Submission

Note that you do not upload an electronic copy of your report in Research.gov. This is a notification system only. Your electronic copy (shipped on CD to Marshall Horner), will be uploaded into the NSF eJacket system by NSF staff.

Submit notification to Research.gov as follows:

O Cover Tab: Review all the information displayed in the Cover tab within the Annual Project Report section of Research.gov. Please verify the information in the Cover Tab within the Annual Project Report section of Research.gov. If any corrections are required, contact the Research.gov Help Desk 7 AM - 9 PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except federal holidays) at [email protected] or 1-800-381-1532.

o Accomplishments Tab: Under the Accomplishments tab, insert the following statement into the first box that asks “What are the major goals of the project?”

“In accordance with the instructions provided to the Engineering Research Centers (ERC) in the ERC Annual Reporting Guidelines document, the Annual Project Report has been submitted separately directly to the ERC Program Office and includes the content specified in the Guidelines. The report is uploaded into the NSF eJacket system by the ERC Program Staff. The cognizant ERC Program Director will approve the report within the NSF eJacket system.”

Next, there are four boxes under the question, “What was accomplished under these goals (you must provide information for at least one of the 4 categories below)?” In the first box, Major Activities, insert the same statement identified above: “In accordance with the instructions provided to the Engineering Research Centers (ERC) in the ERC Annual Reporting Guidelines document, the Annual Project Report has been submitted separately directly to the ERC Program Office and includes the content specified in the Guidelines. The report is uploaded into the NSF eJacket system by the ERC Program Staff. The cognizant ERC Program Director will approve the report within the NSF eJacket system.”

Leave the next three boxes blank.

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mailto:[email protected]

http://Research.gov/


The last three boxes have a “nothing to report” or “no change” checkbox. Do not enter any text, just mark the “nothing to report” or “no change” checkbox for each question.

O Products tab: Under the products tab, do not enter any information. Mark the “nothing to report” checkbox for each question.

o Participants tab: The section “What individuals have worked on the project?” will be pre-populated with the names of the PIs for the ERC. Review and edit as appropriate. Note: The Center may have to enter the names of some of the leadership team. There should be information on the Center Director, Deputy Director, Thrust Leader(s), Campus Leader(s), Industrial Liaison Officer, Administrative Director, and Executive Director or other center leadership position. The title (e.g. Center Director, ILO, etc.) should be entered in the “contribution to the Project” box.

For the “Nearest Person Month Worked?” question, enter the number of full time months, since October 1st, that the person worked on the project.

For the REU required field, click “nothing to report” and also add some text to the REU comment box such as “N/A.”

For the “What other organizations have been involved as partners?” question, mark the “nothing to report” checkbox.

For the “Have other collaborators or contacts been involved?” mark No.

o Impact tab: Mark the “nothing to report” checkbox for all of the questions.

o Changes/Problems tab: Mark the “nothing to report” checkbox for all of the questions.

o Special Requirements: Mark the “nothing to report” checkbox.

o Certify and submit. If all of the tabs up to this point have been marked “Complete”, you will have access to the “submit” button. If any tabs are marked “Started” rather than “Complete”, you will need to return to that tab and address the required fields before you can proceed. Once all tabs are “Complete”, click the “submit” button, then you will see a screen with the certification check box. Check the Certification checkbox and click on the Submit Report Button.

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Note: All of the information regarding the center’s accomplishments, contributions, publications, products, etc. must be contained within the Final Report (and preliminary Final report, if applicable) that is submitted directly to the ERC program office. Entering “nothing to report” in the Annual/Final Report submission in Research.gov does not imply that the center did not make progress or contributions during the reporting period. It is a means of allowing the ERCs to continue to report under the Annual/Final Reporting guidelines and to submit an integrated set of documents useful to the site visit team and to NSF program officers. NSF ERC program staff will upload the contents of the Final Report (and preliminary Final Report if applicable) to the internal NSF eJacket system directly.

33 May 2013


Documents

The purpose of your final ERC report is to provide … Web viewIn the final year, some of these requirements have modifications that are summarized in Table 1 below. The ERCWeb data